Film Talk

Press release for the independent horror film, Crawl Bitch Crawl is here featuring the trailer! Click here to see.

A new poster and trailer has been released by way of France for the upcoming horror film The Secret, otherwise known as The Tall Man here in the states starring Jessica Biel. The trailer is in English, the text in the trailer is not. This one doesn’t sound too appealing to me and have a slight feeling that it may not be what it’s all cracked up to be. Still, I will reserve judgement until I see it.

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The Man with the Iron Fists red band trailer – This just looks absolutely insane!

I was always a fan of horror anthologies, whether it be in book form or in film form (see, Creepshow, Asylum, Trick r’ Treat, Tales From the Darkside, to name a few). Asian horror anthologies such as: Phobia, Phobia 2 & The Three Extremes films, are no exception. So, it is no wonder that I was excited to hear about the upcoming Korean horror film titled, Horror Stories. Take a look at some photos below and the trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer is not sub-titled leaving us to bask in the imagery alone.

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The RZA, of Wu-Tang Clan fame, has stepped away from music and has been busy, with the help of Eli Roth, writing and directing his upcoming kung-fu film The Man with the Iron Fists. Did I mention that Quentin Tarantino also has his hands in this project as well? Normally, I would probably scoff at such a picture but with name talent such as Roth, Tarantino, Lucy Liu, Russel Crowe, Jamie Chung, Pam Grier, Dave Bautista, RZA and more, there is little-to-no doubt that this movie is going to be wildly entertaining and won’t hold back any punches.

Check out the poster for the fim below and the awesome tagline!

In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.

Say it isn’t so!

SO! Wish I can say it wasn’t, but Bruce Campbell himself has confirmed the news in a Tweet in response to a question of whether or not to believe the long time rumors of another installment in the series. His response, in classic Campbell fashion, “Believe in the remake, dawg! The project is real. In the works. Cool as hell. Scary as hell.”

Dread Central was able to get a hold of a press release that confirms the green-light towards production of an Evil Dead remake:

From the Press Release:
Sam Raimi and original producing partners Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell (who also starred in the original franchise) are gearing up to remake their cult sensation THE EVIL DEAD through their long standing Ghost House Pictures partnership. Raimi and Tapert were such instant fans of Fede Alvarez’s short film “Panic Attack” that they set up a blind deal with the filmmaker and through that process have attached Fede Alvarez to write and direct the film. Alvarez wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues. Academy Award® winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is currently doing revisions on the draft. Ghost House is committed to renewing the franchise and has the film on the fast track.

Raimi, Tapert and Campbell will serve as producers. Ghost House Pictures partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Nicole Brown and J.R. Young will oversee the project for Ghost House. Lionsgate will handle international sales on the film.

The three producing partners commented, “We are committed to making this movie and are inspired by the enduring popularity and enthusiasm for the ‘Evil Dead’ series. We can’t wait to scare a new generation of moviegoers using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us thirty years ago as well as Fede bringing a fresh eye to the film’s original elements.”

Raimi wrote, directed and, along with Tapert and Campbell, produced the original horror classic THE EVIL DEAD that tells the story of five twenty-something friends who become holed up in a remote cabin where they discover a Book Of The Dead. An archaeologist’s tape recording reveals that the ancient text was discovered among the Khandarian ruins of a Sumerian civilization. Playing the taped incantations, the youths unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival. THE EVIL DEAD spawned a franchise with the equally successful installments EVIL DEAD II and ARMY OF DARKNESS.

The good thing thus far is that Sam Raimi and Campbell will be involved in the project… that’s the good news. The bad news is that Raimi is not set to direct the film nor is Bruce Campbell to star in it but rather they are tagged on as producers! YIKES! According to the film’s director, Bruce will be making a brief cameo towards the film’s conclusion (sucks). Federico “Fede” Alvarez has been blessed/cursed to direct this new installment in the franchise which he claims to be a “quasi”-remake in an interview with El Pais. And by “quasi” I can only assume that there will be differences made from the original, specifically, as Alvarez explains that he, “will change the characters and some story details, while keeping the basic outline of friends who are beleaguered by demons in a cabin alone.” (Source – Bleeding Cool) In that case, why make an Evil Dead remake and not just a new movie in and of itself? Why not make a fourth installment instead a re-hash of the cult classic? Oy ve! (slaps forehead)

In the El Pais  article, Alvarez is quoted as saying:

“Tenemos claro los errores que no hay que cometer. Como somos fans de la original sabemos en qué lugar vamos a ofender a los que también son fanáticos y en qué no los vamos a molestar, pero no podemos hacer una película solo para ellos”.

Which pretty much translates to:

“We are clear on the errors that shouldn’t be made. As we are fans of the original, we know where we’re going to offend those who are also fanatics and also understand what’s not going to bother them, but we cannot make a movie just for them.”

In his own words, we see that Alvarez and company are not really making this movie for the fans but rather for the masses which is probably an early indication that they may be targeting a clear-cut demographic, wait for it, the tweens! Of course, this is just mere speculation on my part and I could be way off, but judging from the onslaught of remakes and sequels as of late I wouldn’t be surprised. And being a fan of the Evil Dead series, this is a far scarier thought than any of the movies combined!

The notion of a fourth installment into the series excited me, but a remake, well that just pisses me off!

Ok, so here’s my first attempt at a demo reel featuring some of things I can do, hopefully you enjoy:

“Midnight Son” is a gritty, realistic new look at the vampire genre! Eduardo Sanchez of The Blair Witch Project fame is on board as executive producer!

Check out trailer below and visit the Official Website for Midnight Son for more information. You can also “friend” them on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest news and happenings in regards to the films’ progress!

Synopsis:
MIDNIGHT SON is the story of Jacob, a young man confined to a life of isolation, due to a rare skin disorder that prevents him from being exposed to sunlight. His world opens up when he meets Mary, a local bartender, and falls in love. Tragically, Jacob’s actions become increasingly bizarre as he struggles to cope with the effects of his worsening condition. Forced by the disease to drink human blood for sustenance, he must control his increasingly violent tendencies as local law enforcement narrow their focus on him as a suspect in a series of grisly murders.

Say it isn’t is so! Some of you may know that I am not a fan of the remake/re-imagining/re-boot of many films that do not deem worthy of another sequel, or as some film makers would say, an updated version. The concept may be without malice but… egh, I take that back. With the recent success of remakes in the $$$ front and the lack of honest to God film making, it is obvious that there is little to no effort being put forth into these movies and their main “objective” is one simple thing… money. Hence, my dislike of the decisions being made into financing said movies.

Enter the possibility of a potential reboot of the Mortal Kombat series. Now, this is certainly one that I would be interested and excited about. Why? Well, because I don’t think the film makers had it right the first time around. Being based on a video game, the film makers seemed to want to make sure that that point came across and, in my opinion, it did! Only it was a  little too much. Sure, it is one of the better adaptations from a video game into a movie but, still, there is certainly room for improvement.

The only question I have is, is this clip real? Or is it someone’s way of generating interest to see if there is any? I don’t know, see for yourself.

For some further news on this and its confirmation, click HERE!

The Presence stars Mira Sorvino, Shane West, Justin Kirk and Tony Curran. The film was directed by Tom Provost, who is pretty new to the scene. IMDB states that the film is in post-production, however, even though there is little to no information on this film, I’ve read that this film may be on the film festival circuit. Weird thing is that there has been talk of this film since 2008. IMDB has it slated for release in 2010, it’s just of matter of when. Sounds like this one is in Hollywood limbo but only time will tell.

This information is coming from someone who is said to have worked on the film:

The Presence is a modern take on an old-fashioned ghost story, highly atmospheric, with twists, turns and shocks that combine to create an increasing sense of dread and fear as the story progresses to a terrifying climax.

The movie has a number of intriguing and original elements that will garner attention: the first third of the movie, for instance, is largely without dialogue and the unusual use of darkness will create a movie with a very distinctive look. Yet the movie has been written with a mainstream audience in mind and fulfills the main requisite any ghost story must have to be successful: it is very scary.

Set in an old cabin isolated deep in the back-rivers of an unknown locale, a man lives a desolate, lonely existence. No electricity. No indoors plumbing. No means of communication.

When a woman arrives at the cabin for some time away from a troubled marriage, we discover the man is actually a ghost. As she sets up house in the cabin, he becomes creepily fascinated with her.

The woman initially has no idea the ghost is watching her. As time passes, however, she begins to suspect the other presence in the cabin; her fear builds as unexplained events begin to occur and as the ghost stalks her. The unexpected arrival of the woman’s husband initially reduces the woman’s fears, but the extremely jealous ghost begins to stalk the husband as well, causing the woman further suspicion and alarm.

As the hauntings escalate, the ghost himself becomes frightened as otherworldly whispers — audible only to the ghost — ominously fill the cabin. Soon, another dark presence appears. This powerful presence, a malevolent figure dressed all in black, begins to wreak havoc on both the ghost and the couple.

Spiraling to an intense and terrifying battle of good versus evil, the film navigates through clever twists and turns, culminating in an ear-piercing climax that will leave the audience breathless.

By creating a unique experience that will still entertain a large section of the movie-going audience, The Presence has the same potential for success achieved by similar movies in its genre. The ‘scary movie genre’ (ghost stories, horror movies and thrillers) has been one of the most reliable genres for box office profit since film distribution began in the early part of the century. Audience demand has not dissipated: just this last year a number of such films (Hide and Seek, The Grudge, The Amityville Horror, Open Water and Saw, to name a few) have done extremely well both theatrically and in DVD sales.

Sounds very interesting and can’t wait for a trailer. The video below is more of a promo for the movie rather than a trailer that can be found on the official site of the movie: http://www.thepresencemovie.com/